A news bulletin is a very important element of a radio station’s programme. Many people listen to several bulletins every day, and they expect them to be fresh, lively and interesting. The key to making a bulletin is to have a clear idea of the criteria that makes something newsworthy. It must be new, unusual, interesting or significant, and about people. Then it must be written clearly and well. The best way to do this is to write each story as if you were telling it to your friend. Short sentences with simple words convey the main ideas and the rhythm of the piece.
A good lead story will grab the attention of your listeners and encourage them to stay tuned. It is usually a dramatic story which has happened in the local area and may involve people. Alternatively it could be the death of a celebrity.
If you have an important, urgent story to share with your audience it is often better to use a news flash rather than waiting until the end of the bulletin. However you must carefully decide when to make this decision, as a news flash should be used only for extremely serious stories.
It is useful for the newsreader to know his or her reading rate, so that he or she can judge how long it will take him or her to read each line of copy. With practice a newsreader should be able to glance at a piece of text and estimate within two seconds how long it will take him or her to get through it.